A pair of moped-riding thieves have terrorized Queens neighborhoods in a string of chain-snatching robberies targeting teens and seniors.
Police from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood are looking for two chain snatchers who targeted a 13-year-old boy in Middle Village and remain at large more than two weeks later, an NYPD spokesman said Monday.
The youngster was walking in front of a house at 82-49 Penelope Avenue just before 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 2 when two strangers rode up behind him on a black moped. One of the men pulled out a knife and placed the young teen in a chokehold before removing his necklace. The duo rode off eastbound on Penelope Avenue toward Woodhaven Boulevard. The youngster was not injured during the encounter.
Investigators say the same duo struck a day earlier when they rode a red moped and pulled up alongside a 17-year-old girl who was walking near the intersection of Cooper Avenue and 71st Place in Glendale just before 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 1. They snatched her necklace and sped away northbound on 71st Place toward Central Avenue. The teen was not injured.
The two suspects targeted a 64-year-old woman as she walked past the Maspeth Federal Savings Bank at 56-18 69th Street, just north of the Long Island Expressway, at noon on Sunday, May 4, when they rode up behind the victim on a black moped and tried to steal her necklace. The perpetrators were unsuccessful and rode off southbound on 69th Street toward Grand Avenue. The victim was not injured.
The moped-riding chain snatchers began their crime spree in the confines of the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill during the afternoon of Tuesday, April 29. The suspects were riding a red moped when they confronted a 13-year-old boy in front of the Woodhaven Post Office at 86-42 Forest Parkway and removed his necklace and rode away northbound on Forest Parkway toward Jamaica Avenue. The youngster was not injured.
The police spokesman was unable to provide additional details on the value of the stolen necklaces.
The NYPD released surveillance video of the suspects that shows them riding past the Maspeth Federal Savings Bank after they failed to rob the 64-year-old woman on May 4. The moped operator wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, gray sneakers, a black helmet, and a black facemask. His accomplice wore a food delivery bag on his back, a red sweatshirt, black shorts, black sneakers, a blue helmet, and a black facemask.
A reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for information that leads to their arrest.
Anyone with information regarding this crime spree investigation is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are confidential.
Through May 11, the 104th Precinct has reported 44 robberies so far in 2025, 26 fewer than the 70 reported at the same point last year, a decline of 37.1%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Robberies are also down in the 102nd Precinct with 46 reported so far this year, 19 fewer than the 65 reported at the same point in 2024, a decrease of 29.2%, according to CompStat.
